Turkey ready to tackle rule of law issues in EU talks

Turkey is ready to discuss chapters related to the rule of law as part of accession talks with the EU, Turkish Minister for Europe Ömer Çelik said Friday.

Turkey has been under state of emergency rule since the July 15 failed coup attempt. However, Çelik said Ankara is ready to tackle issues such as freedom of expression and independence of the judiciary, which are part of accession chapters 23 and 24 in the negotiating process.

“We want chapters 23 and 24, which include fundamental rights and media freedom, to be opened,” Çelik said. “Energy and other chapters can easily be opened, Turkey is ready to have those opened,” he said in Ankara at a joint press conference with Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief, and Johannes Hahn, the enlargement commissioner.

Turkey and the EU in March revitalized accession talks as part of a pact to stem of the flow of refugees to Europe.

Commission officials have internally already started preparing the ground for new areas of integration with Turkey, Hahn said, adding that it’s now “up to our member states to decide with unanimity about the opening of chapters.”

There are other states who are unlikely to back such a step for Turkey, and the objections do not only apply to the Cyprus dispute. Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, said earlier this month that the EU should abandon talks with Turkey on its prospective membership in the European Union because “we know that the democratic standards are clearly not sufficient to justify [Turkey’s] accession.”

Hahn is confident that a solution can be found on the another controversial issue — the visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to the EU. Turkey’s controversial terror law remains the main stumbling bloc for the deal to go through, although Ankara insists it will not make changes to the legislation.

“I am very confident we are able to find a solution,” Hahn said, adding that Turkey and Brussels have recently turned to the Council of Europe, the Continent’s leading human rights organization, to help them solve the dispute.